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Rehandle Tomahawk vs Hatchet

Triquetra

Triquetra

Joined
Mar 7, 2002
Messages
759
This is probably a stupid question, but I keep hearing that it's easier to rehandle a tomahawk than a hatchet like if you were out in the wilderness. Why can't you put a handle like you have on a tomahawk through a hatchet eye. Is there a difference in the eye shape or what? Can't you handle a hatchet like you would a tomahawk? Sorry for the ignorance.
 
Triquetra said:
This is probably a stupid question, but I keep hearing that it's easier to rehandle a tomahawk than a hatchet like if you were out in the wilderness. Why can't you put a handle like you have on a tomahawk through a hatchet eye. Is there a difference in the eye shape or what? Can't you handle a hatchet like you would a tomahawk? Sorry for the ignorance.
Click to expand...

Yes, there is a difference in the eye shape. Besides being much rounder than ax/hatchet handles, tomahawk heads have the eye shaped at an angle opening toward the top.
 
A tomahawk haft (and eye) are commonly described as having a "teardrop" shape.

hawk8.jpg
 
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I went this weekend to some of the hardware store to look at the hatchet and axe handles a little closer. There was quite a bit of difference from my tomahawks. It seems like the way of mounting a tomahawk would be a lot more secure and less likely for the head to fly off.
 
I think the method for mounting axe and hatchet heads you see today was a result of the desire to narrow the head for better performance on deep cuts in large timber. If you ever try to cut a notch in a log that is deeper than a hawk's bit I think you'll see what I'm talking about. The large eye gets in the way and can make things difficult. As the eye gets smaller (narrower) there is less room to drop the handle down from the top and still have it strong enough to handle the stress. Wedging from the top will hold pretty well but it takes more skill, time and tools to do properly. Everything's a trade-off. :)
 
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